Colin Hardie

Hardie was born on 16 February 1906 in Edinburgh, Scotland,[1] the third son of William Ross Hardie and his wife Isabella Watt Hardie (née Stevenson). His father was a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, and Professor of Humanity at the University of Edinburgh.[2] He was educated at Edinburgh Academy, a private school.[2] He then went on to study at Balliol College, University of Oxford as a Warner Exhibitioner and Honorary Scholar. He took firsts in both Mods (1926) and Greats (1928). He won four classical prizes during his undergraduate studies;[2] Ireland Scholar and Craven Scholar in 1925,[3] Hertford Scholar in 1926 and the Gaisford Prize for Greek Prose in 1927. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1928,[1] which was promoted to Master of Arts (MA) in 1931.[2]

Upon graduation, Hardie was appointed to a Junior Research Fellowship in Balliol College, Oxford. He held the post from 1928 to 1929. In 1930, he was elected a Fellow and classical tutor of that college.[2] On 1 February 1933, he was unanimously elected Director of the British School at Rome.[1] He held the post until 1936, when he was succeeded by Ralegh Radford.[4] He returned to England from Italy to become a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, and a tutor in classics.[5]

He took a break from his academic work during World War II. As many academics did, he lent his services to the War Office from 1941 to 1943.[5] He then went on to work at the Admiralty's Inter-Services Topographical Department, based in Oxford, until the end of the war in 1945.[1]

Following the war, he returned to Magdalen College. There he taught classics until his retirement in 1973.[2] His scholarly work was largely centred on Virgil and Dante. He was a member of the Inklings, the informal literary discussion group centred on the University of Oxford.[5] Hardie was also a part of the Socratic Club where he presented papers.[6] For the final six years of his time at the University of Oxford, from 1967 to 1973, he was the Public Orator; a role in which he acted as the voice of the university during public occasions such as royal visits and the presentation of honorary degrees.[1]

Photographs contributed by Hardie to the Conway Library are currently being digitised by the Courtauld Institute of Art, as part of the Courtauld Connects project.[7]

Following his retirement in 1973, Hardie and his wife moved away from Oxford to Rackham Cottage, near the village of Pulborough, Sussex.[1] From 1971 to 1990, he was the Royal Academy's Honorary Professor of Ancient Literature.[2]

He died in Chichester, West Sussex on 17 October 1998.[1]

Hardie married Christian Viola Mary Lucas in 1940.[2] Together they had two sons, Nicholas and Anthony.[8] He converted to Roman Catholicism in 1945.[5]